Fonds consists primarily of paintings, drawings, and watercolours of Canadian subjects done by Edward Roper (1833-1909). These include several of the original drawings used as illustrations in Roper's best known publication "By Track and Trail Though Canada" (London, 1891). There are views of British Columbia done during Roper's trip to that area in 1887, as well as views of the Yukon which he visited in 1891. Other works depict Hamilton and the Muskoka area in Ontario, the Rocky Mountains, Vancouver Island, pioneer activities, and native peoples. There are also foreign views of England, Australia, Switzerland, and Ohio. Prints by Roper include sets of Roper's Muskoka : picturesque playground of Canada, Toronto, 1883, illustrations included in The Children's Treasure, London, 1870, and other single items.
The fonds also includes the diaries of Anne Creasey Roper, his wife, for the years 1857, 1858, 1868, 1870, 1874, 1877, 1878, 1880-1895; notes on Edward Roper's life by his daughter Edith; a German translation of Roper's description of Niagara Falls; "A Surgeon's Love Story" by Edward Roper, ca. 1900; a typescript of "Record of Collyer-Selmes-Shorter-Weeks Family" (Vol. 1).
Roper, Edward, 1833-1909 : Edward Roper (1833-1909) was born in England, the son of John Henry Roper, and apparently emigrated to Canada West with his family during the period from 1846-1852. He then went to the goldfields of Ballarat, Australia, from 1853-1855, and returned to England via Canada in 1856. He married in England in 1859, and then joined his family again in Hamilton, where he resided until 1865, contributing artwork and illustrations to the Canadian Illustrated News (Hamilton, 1862-1864). In 1865, he returned to England and became the manager of the Graphotype Co. of London. In 1870, he emigrated to Melbourne, Australia, where he set up a local branch of that company, remaining in Australia until 1873. He then returned to England, where he spent the rest of his life as an artist, although he did travel to Canada again several times in the 1880s, including a trip on the CPR in 1889, and to the Klondike. He died in England in 1909.
